Multi-touch surfaces have the potential to change the nature of computer-supported collaborative learning, allowing more equitable access to shared digital content. In this paper, we explore how large multi-touch tables can be used by groups of students as an external representation of their group interaction processes. Video data from 24 groups…

This paper describes a study that compared the use of consensual, nominal, and conventional decision-making techniques in established and ad hoc groups. The impact of the structural interventions on group decision quality and group attitudes is examined and the appropriateness of the techniques in various situation is discussed. Findings of the…

Examines how an understanding of the meaning of bilingual code-switching can be achieved and how speakers with very different abilities in (and attitudes toward) the languages communicate with each other in close and informal encounters. Particular attention is given to the marking of preference organization in bilingual cross-generational family…

Multifaceted Rasch analysis was used to determine whether bias was evident in the way a group of raters graded two different versions of an oral interaction test, undertaken by the same candidates. Results indicate that certain raters consistently rated the tape version of the test more harshly while others rated the live one more harshly. (10…

The Classroom Interaction Analysis Index (CIAI) is an instrument developed to categorize the actions of teachers and students as they interact in classroom situations. In the study described, a class of 30 social studies student teachers were divided into teams of five each. Each team taught the same preplanned lesson twice--by illustrated lecture…

Studied the effect of content knowledge on learners' participation in interactions between nonnative speakers. Measures of participation included amount of talk, conversational fillers, back channels, topic moves, clarification questions, and confirmation and comprehension checks. Findings support the relationship between knowledge and…

Investigates teacher reformulation of student talk in order to determine the manner in which teachers affect student meaning and expression. Findings indicate that reformulation is a device used by teachers to control classroom dialog and that teachers disproportionately perform the language functions most commonly associated with higher-order…

The various behavioral phases through which a child passes before he becomes adjusted to school are examined in this report on East Indian children. A program of observation was devised to answer three questions: (1) Do patterns of behavior change as children continue to attend school? (2) Are there different patterns of behavior during the…

The first volume of a two-volume report on the study of sex equity in classroom interaction presents findings of previous studies of classroom interaction, methods used in the study, observations of classroom interactions, possible causes of sex segregation, sex differences in classroom leadership, and intervention implementation effects. The…

This paper presents two studies of the development of social competencies in infancy. In the first experiment, the central issue investigated was whether facial configuration or height is utilized by infants to respond differentially to children and adults. Five different strangers, a male and a female child, a male and a female adult, and a small…

This paper reports on research with a group of students in grades 3 and 4 who live on isolated grazing homesteads in the Australian desert in western New South Wales. The paper examines an alternative mode of delivery involving the application of satellite-based systems to provide a teaching-learning environment for these students. The trial of a…

Analyzes the interaction during peer response occurring in a writing class. The article identifies four categories of reader stances--authoritative, interpretive, probing, and collaborative--and examines language functions and topics discussed during the response sessions. It is concluded that interactive peer response is beneficial to students.…

Investigates the sincerity and validity of uptake as a measure of language learning by comparing the words students report they have learned after completing a listening task with the words they score correctly on a translation test. Results indicate that whereas uptake may have construct validity, its concurrent validity is uncertain. (16…

This paper reports studies investigating the effects over time of age and social class grouping in infant day care on the psycho-social development of low socioeconomic status children (primarily black). Adult-child and child-child interactions were assessed in four different types of day care groupings: homogeneous x hetergeneous, age x social…

Pearson correlation coefficients between first and second year classroom process data from the Texas Teacher Effectiveness Project are presented. These data are from 19 second and third grade teachers whose classrooms were observed during two consecutive school years. The stability of classroom behaviors varied greatly across the two years.…